Floridians may most associate 2012 with its irrelevance in the presidential election, when the nation had declared the winner and Florida was still counting ballots.

Credit Radio_jct

"Climate change is here," was another notable headline for 2012, which marked perhaps the first time any U.S. city acknowledged rising sea levels when Miami Beach assessed what work its stormwater system required.

It was also the year that things didn't change in Venezuela or Cuba, much to the chagrin of those stateside.